Lords of the Realm [Mass Market Paperback]

John Helyar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 1995

In this fascinating, colorful chronicle -- based on hundreds of interviews and years of research and digging -- John Helyar brings to vivid life the extraordinary people and dramatic events that shaped America's favorite pastime, from the dead-ball days at the turn of the century through the great strike of 1994. Witness zealous Judge Landis banish eight players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, after the infamous "Black Sox" scandal; the flamboyant A's owner Charlie Finley wheel and deal his star players, Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers, like a deck of cards; the hysterical bidding war of coveted free agent Catfish Hunter; the chain-smoking romantic, A. Bartlett Giamatti, locking horns with Pete Rose during his gambling days of summer; and much more . . . .
"The ultimate chronicle of the games behind the game." -- The New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Wall Street Journal sports reporter (and Barbarians at the Gate co-author) John Helyar has produced an entertaining and concise look at the real reasons that Major League Baseball has become the big business that it is today--and a definitive glimpse at where America's erstwhile national pastime is likely to head in the coming years. With vividly painted portraits of significant players from Ty Cobb to Bud Selig, it offers both a current picture and an historical perspective that will prove invaluable to fans of the game as well as to students of business as the lords of the game continue to struggle with business problems that have forever altered their sport.

From Publishers Weekly

Helyar ( Barbarians at the Gate ) presents a history of player-owner labor relations that dissects baseball for the big-business it is. As background, he shows how the owners intimidated players into accepting low salaries and prohibited their movement through the reserve clause, which made the player the property of his team forever. The central character of the book is union organizer Marvin Miller. Helyar relates how Miller overcame anti-union feelings of the players, and how he succeeded in overturning the reserve clause with the cases of Catfish Hunter, Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith. He scored another win after the strike of 1981, when he hood-winked the baseball owners into salary arbitration, which grossly inflated salaries. We're shown the commissioners: pompous Bowie Kuhn; Peter Ueberroth and his disastrous "collusion" policies that caused the owners to pay millions of dollars in retribution to players for restricting their free movement; and Fay Vincent, whose tenure was soap-operish. This enlightening and provocative book may be too legalistic for the casual fan. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 632 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (January 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345392612
• ISBN-13: 978-0345392619
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,063,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great look at greed and stupidity, November 14, 2003

By 

T. Bratz "gwfeds0" (Beaverton, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lords of the Realm (Paperback)

One of my biggest complaints about the sports section of most newspapers these days is that it has more crime and business news than sports. I normally don't like reading about the business of sports, but this book is outstanding. It's a history of labor negotiations through the history of baseball, and exposes the owners as some of the greediest and stupidest people you'll ever read about.

Marvin Miller made them all pay for their stupidity, getting exactly what he wanted from his negotiations with them. The book is full of great anecdotes. One of my favorites was when Jimmy Foxx won the American League Triple Crown and they tried to cut his salary the next season, because he hadn't hit as many homers as he did the year before. He actually had to hold out just to get the same pay he made the year before.

All baseball fans should read this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY: A Real, factual History of Baseball, May 21, 2000

By 

B Ardell Young (Camden, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lords of the Realm (Mass Market Paperback)

Heylar has written a detailed, sometimes complicated, book that fully explains the state of baseball in 2000. Perhaps, some readers will find the narrative slow and plodding but if you are interested in baseball, the rich detail, of the book, that omits no information that would help explain a particilar point is most welcome.

Heylar weaves the familar of baseball history such as Cobb, Ruth, Mantle, and the major historic games of the sport with the economics that really drove the game but was kept out of sight until Marvin Miller stepped onto the stage of baseball.

The book is valuable and unique because of the coverage of the economic underside of baseball and how the power structure within the game has shifted since the early 1970s.

The book is a must read for someone who is interested in the real "history" of baseball.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly insightful, March 6, 2001

By 

Brad Dunn (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lords of the Realm:: The Real History of Baseball (Hardcover)

If you want to know about baseball, this is the one book you MUST read. From the early days of robber-baron owners, to the formation of the most powerful union in the world, this book tells it all in great detail. I cannot recommend it enough to fans of the game as well as anyone interested in the history of business in America. It has been said that to know the history of America, you must know the history of baseball. This book exemplifies that thought. Its out of print, but try as hard as you can to find a copy. You will not be dissapointed.